Needle changing device



Feb. 2,1932. w. .R. OYSTON 1,843,401

' NEEDLE CHANGING DEVICE Original Filed March 12, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 1Feb. 2, 1932. w. R. OYSTON 1,843,401

NEEDLE CHANGING DEVICE Original Filed March 12, 19 28 4 Shegts-Sheet 2Feb. 2, 1932. w. R. OYSTON NEEDLE CHANGING DEVICE Origifial Filed March12, 1928 QSheets-Shee't s Feb. 2, 1932. 'w,-R, bysToN 1,843,401

NEEDLE CHANGING DEVICE Original Filed March 12, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 4Patented Feb; 2, 1932 COMPANY Original application filed March 12,maaseriaino. 260 ,378,- and in era e Britain March-12, was.

and this application filed- May 24, 1329-. Serial No. 365,675. r

This invention relates to an improved nee dle. changing device for soundreproducing apparatus, more particularly talking ma chines of themagazine player type said device being of the kind wherein the movementof the sound box or reproducer to and from a playing position. alsocontrols the automatic changing the needle;

The invention ,consists in a needle chang-Q for sound reproducingapparatus;

ing device more. particularly automatic talking ma.- chines in whichmeans are provided where- .by the movement, of the sound reproducer froma playing'to 'a non-playing-position produces the'releaseof'the usedneedle for discharge. fromv its supporting housing, whereupon a newneedle fed automatically from a magazine and substituted for the usedneedle is clamped, in thehousing d'uringthe return movement of the soundreproducer to: playing; position andpriorto the engagement of the needlewith the record to be played. V r i Means are also provided forsupporting the. new needle in its housing until clamped therein; saidsupporting meansbeing brought into'operative position bythe needleclamping means ai'ter the'used needle has beensreleased and discharged.

' The invention will. now' described with.

reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate, by way ofexample, the needle changing device according to the in-' vention asapplied to a talking machine I wherein the records are played in avertical" position that is to say, on edge. Such a tallring machine isdescribed and-illustrated in detail in the specification of my pendingapplication Serial No. 260 578, filed March 12th; 1928, of which thisapplication'is a divisio 'i and in consequence thereof only theessential.

parts'of the talking machine necessary to illustrate the function thedevice in accordance with thisinvention areshown in the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Figure 1 1s a perspective view of a talking machine sound. bot; providedwith needle clamping and releasing means. v FBTLHQS 2 and .3 areelevational views iillus- 29 i t z r playing position respectively.

r'ARK- ZILLE, vrcronra, AUSTRALIA, Assrenon r conrrnuous. s-nanornonnsLrMIrEn. on Lon-non, nnerzann, A Bnrrrsn JoInr-srooK:

NEEDLE CHANGING DEVICE Divided trating the sound box in a non-playingand 'Figure 4 is a detail perspect've view of the needle housing and themembers co-operating therewith to clamp and to release; the needle.Figure 5 is a perspectiveview of the needle, magazine. i 'f,

Figure 6 is a sectional plan thereof. 7

Figure 7 is a sectional elevation on the line 7,'Zf of Figure 6.

Figure 8 is a perspective view of'the means for moving thesound box toand from a playing position and for simultaneously*actuat ing the meanscontrolling the supply oi; new needles from the magazines Referring tothe drawings, the stylus bar 1 of a loosely supported sound box 2carries at its outer end an open ended housing 3 into which is led thefree; end of a flexible tubing 4- having its other endin communicationwith the needle. magazineb; Pivotally attached to; the sound box 2 is anarm 6 having at its outer end a. pivotal cradle 7 adapted to oscillateabout its pivot, against the tension o t-a. spring *8, When the soundbox2 islocated in a journal or non-playing position, the

cradle 7'is juxtaposed to the open end of the housing 3 (Figure 2), andupon a needle 9 passing downwardly through the tubing 4: and into thehousing 3, thepointed end of the needle rests in the cradle Loosely suprate portions ofthe housing 3 and because the point ofthe' needle restsin the cradle 7 the arm .6 will be'caused to move together with thesound box. During such combined move-v ment, the'needle 9 contacts withthe lug 11 thereby causing the fingerlO alsoyto .move with the sound boxagainst the actionof its coil spring 13, the tension of which spring.

causesthe lug 11 to hold the needle firmlyin position in the housing 3.As the movement of the sound box continues the arm 6 is stopped bycontact with the record 16, and the continued movement of the sound boxcauses the needle 9 to oscillate the cradle 7 about its pivot againstthe tension of the spring 8 shown in dotted lines in Figure 3, whichpivotal movement enables the needle 9 to free itself from the cradle 7and to move into operative contact with the playing surface of therecord 16.

As the arm 6 is loosely mounted upon the Sound box, the release of itscradle 7 from the needle 9 allows the said arm 6 to move out of contactwith the record 16. vi hen the sound box 2 is being returned to anon-playing position the lug 12 meets the set screw 14 of the needlechute 15 thereby preventing further movement of the finger 10, and thus,the continued movement of the sound box 2 releases the needle 9 from itsengagement with the lug 11, so that the said needle will fall into theneedle chute 15 after striking against the cradle 7. During the playingof the record the pressure thereof on the needle 9 additionally ensuresthat the latter will be locked in the housing 3.

The needle magazine 5 (Figures 5, 6 and 7) is divided into twocompartments 5 and 5 one for soft tone needles and the other for loudtone needles which compartment-s are mounted upon a common inclined baseplate 17 secured to a bracket 18 which is rigidly attached to a rod 19firmly supported by a stationary part of tne talking machine. 7 Thecompartments 5 and 5 have a plurality of louvered partitions 20 adaptedto prevent the needles from gathering at the delivery end of thecompartments. In the bottom of the compartments 5 and 5 and slidablymounted on the base plate 17 are a pair of sliding plates 21 and 22 eachhaving an opening 23 adapted to accommodate a single needle 9. Each ofthe openings 23 is adapted to register with separate openings 24 havingV-shaped or tapered ends and provided in the base plate 17 in a positionabove chutes 25. Such chutes are rigidly attached to the base plate 17and are open to the flexible tube 4 which constitutes the means ofcommunication between the said chutes 25 and the housing 3 of the stylusbar 1. The openings 24 are shaped to ensure that the needles 9 enteringsuch openings will pass into the chutes 25 in a pointforemost position.

Sliding movement of the plates 21 and 22 agitates the needles 9 locatedin the compartments 5 and 5 so that such needles are regularly andevenly fed from the said compartments to the openings 23 and from thenceto the openings 24.

The sliding plates 21 and 22 can be operated separately and selectivelythrough a bell crank lever 26 slidably mounted on a rod 27 rigidlyattached to the bracket 18; for this purpose each sliding plate isprovided with a recess 29 adapted to be separately engaged by the saidlever 26. The engagement of the bell crank lever 26 with either of therecesses 29 is accomplished by manually sliding a transverse plate 30provided with an opening 31 adapted to receive one limb of the bellcrank lever 26. The transverse plate 30 can only be moved when the soundbox 2 is in a playing position, as both the sliding plates 21. and 22are then in a backward position.

The bell crank lever 26 is operated by a connecting rod 32 (Figure 8)resiliently connected to a radial arm 33 rigid with a shaft 34 adaptedto be oscillated by any suitable means.

The shaft 34 is also adapted to effect the movement of the sound box 2to and from a playing position, and for this purpose a bracket 35(Figure 1) is rigidly attached to the sound box 2, which bracket isprovided with an arm 36 to which one end of a connecting link 37 ispivotally attached while the other end of the said link is looselysupported in a jaw 38 (Figure 8) of a block 39 slidable on a fixed rod40, which block is connected by a link 41 to a bell crank lever 42rigidly connected to the oscillatory shaft 34.

Assuming that a needle 9 is positioned in the housing 3 and that thebell crank lever 26 has been manually moved to engage the recess 29 inthe sliding plate 22, the operation of the device is as follows WVhen itis desired to play a record the shaft 34 is turned in the direction ofthe arrow (Figure 8) so that the bell crank lever 42 through the link 41will cause the block 39 to slide outwardly on the rod and thereby pulldown the link 37 so as to turn the sound box 2 (with the needle inposition) into engagement with the record to be played. During suchmovement of the sound box 2 the needle 9 will be firmly clamped in thehousing 3 as hereinbefore described. The aforesaid movement of the shaft34 not only moves the sound box 2 into a playing position but alsocauses its arm 33 to raise the connecting rod 32' so as to rock the bellcrank lever 26 into the position shown in dotted lines in F ig- E ure 7,thereby drawing the slide 22 inwardly ready-to receive a new needle inthe slot 23.

The return movement of the sound. box 2 to a non-playing position iseffected by a return movement of the shaft 34 to its original position,which return movement of the shaft nomantomatic; that the constructionof the various elementsconstituting: the: device. canzbe; modifiedWithout departingfromi the scope.ofthesappended;claims.

What; L. claim 1. In a; sound reproducing. apparatus hav:

ing; ai stylus-needle mounted; on asound 1'.e'

producer :movable from a playing: to l a non.- playing. position andvice; versa,.fa needle changing: device comprising -means" for: clampingthe needle in operative-position, said clampingmeans being.automatically re leased uponlmovement of saidsound reproducer away fromthe playing. position; means for feedingv a freshneedle. to-sai'd soundre.-

producer within reach of said clamping nation ofa:needle-housingvmeansfor feedmg fresh. needles successively .iZO SiLld. house.

in means for clam in needle. in 303itionin. said housing, means forsynchroniz mg the release ofsaid clamping means W1tl1" the movement ofsaid sound reproducer away from the playing position, and means; forsynchronizi ng the. feed of a fresh needle With themovement of saidsound reproducer to noneplaying position, said clamping means 7 beingautomaticallyv reengaged during movementof said sound reproducer backtothe playing position 3. In .talkingmachine havinga'sty'lusneedlemounted} on a. sound reproducer mov-;

able from a: playing. to a non-playing 'posi tion and vice versa,,thecombination of a. needleshousingsecured; to the actu'ator of'u saidsound '.reproducer,.a guide tube adapted. to =fedafreslr needlei'ntosaid housing, support j for. said. fresh needle in said housclamp.amounted ing, a spring-operated upon saidsound reproducer. and adaptedto engage the needleawhen supported. in. posi-- tionin'saidhousing,.andmeans .vvhereby the usedn'eedle is releasedfrom saidclamp for,

discharge during movement of said sound reproducer away from the playingposition,

said 'lneans'lallowingthe reengagement ofsaid spring-operated clampduring the-return movement of said" sound reproducer.

4. In a: talking machine liav ng a sound roprodu'cer movablefrom'a-playing to anonplaying position ZLDdQVlCG 'versa, thecomloina- 5tion of. a needle-housing se curedto the actuator of: said soundrfeproducen. a; guide tube magazine, means for," feeding fresh needlesone at iaqtime from. said magazine to :Withinadaptedto feed afreshzneedle. into said housmg, a cradlea cting. temporarily to'support'the fresh needle in. said; housing: ivhilesaid .i sound reproducer isin.the. noneplayi'ng position, a;-spring-operated clamp mounted. upon S id:sound reproducer' and adapted to engage 'the needle when supported inposition in: saidhousing," andImeans whereby the used needle; isreleased from. said. clamp for dis-* charge during. movement of; saidsound reproducer awayffrom. the playing position, said: means allowing,therreengagement of said spring-operated. clamp. during-thereturnm'ovement of said sound reproducer and before thefresh needle.loses the support of saidioradle.

5.- Inna talking machine having a stylus: needlezmounted onv asound-reproducer moveablefroma playing to a non-playing posi-' tion andvice versa, a needle-changing device comprising: springeoperated meansfor clampingsa needle in operative positionupon said sound.;reproducer,means for releasing.

said. needle-clamping; means: during movene'nt fofi said. soundreproducer avvayv from: the. playing position, a :needlehmagazine,means; for feeding fresh. needlesv one at. a; time: and? alwayspoint-foremost from said magazine. to Within 'reachof said. clamping.v

means, theafiesh. needle bein'gisupplied. after release. of the usedneedle and in the non?" playingiposition of said sound rep'roducer,andmeans allowing theengagement; of sand fresh 'needle'by saidclamping.meansduring the return movement of said sound repro ducer.towards the. playingspos-itionp 6;;In; a talking machine liavingz astylus-..

needle :mounted. on1a sound reproducer. movable. from; a playingtto. anon-playing; posi tion andvice versa; a nee'dle-changing; devicecomprising spring -operated. means for:

clamping a. needle. in, operative position,

sin liuL means for releasing said needle-clamping,

meansduring movement. of said sound reproducer away. from {the playingposition, a

needle magazine adapted to contain; fresh needles ofdifferentvarieties,means; for selecting the-variety of: needle.suppliedby' said magazine, means for i feeding. thefresh needlesofzseleetedvariety one at atime from said magazine.to withinreaoh ofsaidclamping. means,the fresh needle being; supplied after, .release';of the. used? needle 5 and in the nonplaying position-pof; said soundrepro-- 7.21

ducer,. and; meansallowing. the engagement of said fresh-needle bysaid-clamping means during'the return :moveinent of! said soundreproducer towardsthe playing position.

- '7; In: a talking machine having a stylus I needlemountedion arotatable-soundreproducer, a needle-changing device comprising means forclamping needle-in 0-perative position," means for releasing.saidneedle' clamping. means during rotation of; said sound reproducer inone direction, a needlereach of said clamping means, the fresh usedneedle and about the end of said rotation of said sound reproducer, andmeans for temporarily supporting said fresh needle in operative positionuntil engaged by said clamping means during rotation of said soundreproducer in the reverse direction.

8. In a talking machine having a sound box movable from a playingposition toa non-playing position and vice versa, the combination of aneedle-housing secured to the sound box actuator, a guide tube adaptedto feed a fresh needle into said housing, an arm pivoted upon said soundbox and adapted to contact with the record disk as said sound boxapproaches the playing position, a spring-controlled cradle pivoted uponsaid arm and adapted temporarily to support the fresh needle fed intosaid housing, a spring-operated clamp pivotally mounted upon said soundbox and adapted to engage said needle while supported in said housing,and a fixed stop against which said clamp abuts as said sound box movestowards the non-playing position, said clamp being released fordischarge of the used cradle by its abutment against said stop, and saidcradle being rocked by the continued movement of the fresh needleclamped in said housing after the contact of said arm with the recorddisk, said arm then falling clear of said record disk. 7

9. In a sound reproducing apparatus having an automatic needle-changingdevice, a magazine adapted to contain a plurality of different varietiesof fresh needles, means for selecting the variety of needle supplied bysaid magazine, and means for feeding needles of the selected Variety oneat a time and point-foremost from said magazine towards the soundreproducer, said feeding means operating for either of the selectedvarieties. I i

10. In a talking machine having an automatic needle-changing device,'amagazine adapted to contain a plurality of different varieties of freshneedles, said magazine comprising a plurality officompartments for saiddifferent varieties, a slidable bottom plate in each of saidcompartments, each said slidable plate having an opening adapted toreceive one needle at a time from the respec tive compartment, a baseplate having openings adapted to register with the respective openingsin said slidable plates, selective means for operating either of saidslidable plates whereby to bring its opening from the interior of therespective magazine compartment into register with an opening in saidbase plate, and means for guiding the fresh needle from said lastmentioned opening towards the sound reproducer.

11. In a talking machine having an automatic needle-changing device, amagazine adapted to contain two different varieties of fresh needles,said magazine comprising two compartments for said different varieties,a slidable bottom plate ineach of said compartments, each said-slidableplate having an opening adapted to receive one needle at a time from therespective compartment, a base plate having openings adapted to registerwith the respective openings in said slidable plates, a bell crank leveradapted to operate either of said slidable plates whereby to bring itsopening from the interior of the respective magazine compartment intoregister with one of the openings in said base plate, said slidableplates being formed with gaps on their contiguous edges and said bellcrank lever being slidable on its axis for engaging one of its arms witheither of said gaps, and a common chute adapted to receive the freshneedle delivered through either of the openings in said base plate andto guide it towards the sound reproducer.

12. In a talking machine having an automatic needle-changing device, amagazine adapted to contain two different varieties of fresh needles,said magazine comprising two compartments for said different varieties,a plurality of partitions across each of said compartments, saidmagazine being inclined to the horizontal and said partitions includ-'ing louvers similarly inclined to the horizon-' tal, a slidable bottomplate in each of said compartments, each said slidable plate having anopening adapted to receive one needle at a time from the respectivecompartment, a base plate having openings adapted to register with therespective openings in said slidable plates, a bell crank lever adaptedto operate'either of said slidable plates whereby to bring its openingfrom the interior of the respective magazine compartment into registerwith vone of two openings in said base plate, said slidable plates beingformed with gaps on their contiguous edges and said bell crank leverbeing slidable on its axis for engaging one of its arms with either ofsaid gaps, and a manually operated selector device engaging said bellcrank lever for sliding movement.

13. In an automatic talking machine having an oscillating shaft forcontrolling its operations, and having a needle-fitted sound reproducermovable from a playing to a nonplaymg position and vice versa incontrolled relation to the movements of said oscillating shaft, anautomatic needle-changing device which includes means for clamping aneedle in operativeposition upon said sound reproducer, said clampingmeans being automatically released upon movement of said soundreproducer away from the playing position, aneedle-magazine, means forfeeding needles one at a time from said magazine to within reach of saidclamping means, the fresh needle being supplied after release of theused needle, means for temporarily signature.

supporting said fresh needle in operative position until engaged by saidclamping means, and means for controlling the release and engagement ofsaid clamping means and the operation of said feeding means in relationto the movements of said oscillating shaft. I V I In testimony whereof Ihereunto aifix my WILLIAM ROB RT OYSTON.

